Modern wireless networks employ agile modulation and forward error correction (FEC) techniques. As such, the amount of wireless connection resources (e.g., over-the-air resource blocks) required to sustain transmission of a data stream at a given bit rate (i.e., throughput) to or from a wireless communication device depends on the associated wireless connection quality (e.g., the signal-to-noise Ratio (SNR)) between the wireless communication device, herein known as user equipment (UE), and an infrastructure communication device, herein known as a base station (BS). When a UE is subject to interference, its associated wireless connection quality will deteriorate. To compensate for that deterioration, the transmitting entity (UE or BS, respectively) will select a lower complexity modulation and/or apply additional FEC in order to sustain transmission at a given bit rate.
Although these mitigation techniques can potentially provide a UE associated with a relatively poor wireless connection quality with a higher sustained bit rate, they also require a significantly larger amount of wireless connection resources to be allocated with respect to a UE associated with a relatively good wireless connection quality. In one example, a UE transmitting a 128 kb/s data stream and subject to wireless interference (e.g., when located between neighboring cells in a cellular system) will consume 11 times the amount of wireless connection resources with respect to a UE associated with a relatively good wireless connection quality also transmitting a 128 kb/s data stream.
Modern wireless networks are architected in such a way that all UEs connected to the same point-of-attachment (e.g., a BS sector) draw from the same pool of available wireless connection resources. Following the example above, a given point-of-attachment may be able to simultaneously support 11 UEs associated with a relatively good wireless connection quality, each transmitting a 128 kb/s video stream, or 1 UE associated with a relatively poor wireless connection quality transmitting a 128 kb/s video stream.
Modern wireless networks provide a means of unfairly sharing available wireless connection resources via bearer reservations. As used herein, a bearer reservation is an allocation of sufficient wireless connection resources to sustain transmission of a data stream at a requested bit rate across a communication network. Notably, bearer reservations are typically requested in units of bits/second, irrespective of the amount of wireless connection resources required to actually sustain the requested bit rate. When an application running on a UE or an application running on an application server requests a bearer reservation, the admission control function interfaces with the BS serving the identified UE to determine if sufficient wireless connection resources exist to sustain the requested bit rate. If sufficient wireless connection resources exist, the bearer reservation request is admitted. If sufficient wireless connection resources do not exist and priority preemption is not applicable, the bearer reservation request is rejected.
When operating on modern wireless networks, applications interface with an admission control function to request bearer reservations. Applications may associate an admission priority and bearer retention policy, commonly referred to as Allocation, Retention, and Priority (ARP), with a bearer reservation request. Accordingly, each request for a bearer reservation can be associated with an admission priority such that the communication system may preempt an existing bearer reservation in favor of admitting a requested bearer reservation of a higher priority. Bearer reservation requests associated with the same priority typically compete for wireless connection resources on a first come, first serve basis. In other words, the first bearer reservation to be admitted at a particular point-of-attachment may block admittance of subsequent bearer reservations having the same priority and targeting the same point-of-attachment. Referring again to our example, if a bearer reservation for a 128 kb/s data stream associated with a given priority and identifying a UE associated with a relatively poor wireless connection quality is admitted, the bearer reservation would consume the balance of available wireless connection resources for a given point-of-attachment. This, in turn, would block admittance of all subsequent requests for bearer reservations (e.g., 11 other UEs associated with a relatively good wireless connection quality attempting to allocate 128 kb/s data streams) at the same point-of-attachment and associated with the same priority.
It is believed that such behavior may be undesirable for private (e.g., public safety and enterprise) and public (e.g., cellular carrier) network operators. In the case of public safety, an agency may wish to invoke a policy which prevents an officer inadvertently parked at a location inflicting a relatively poor wireless connection quality from conducting routine (non-emergency) video surveillance, at the expense of 11 other officers operating in locations associated with a relatively good wireless connection quality also wanting to conduct routine video surveillance. In the case of public networks, a carrier may wish to invoke a policy which prevents one customer inadvertently parked at a location inflicting a relatively poor wireless connection quality from streaming a movie at the expense of 11 other customers operating in locations associated with a relatively good wireless connection quality also attempting to stream a movie.
Invoking such a policy is not possible with the current mechanisms for requesting bearer reservations on communication networks. Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus for admitting requests for allocation of wireless connection resources in a communication system that more fairly allocates wireless connection resources to alleviate the aforementioned issues.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.